Social Media

Facebook Timeline-ageddon: Why Now?

Facebook’s steady march to global Timeline coverage just turned into a dash — and it’s really the users who are running.

By making Facebook Timelines the new de facto standard for all Facebook profiles, in effect, the company just held up a starter pistol and yelled “Go! You have seven days to reach the finish line before we completely change the track!”

That’s right, everyone has just one week to get their social media houses in order before Facebook moves the furniture (something we'd heard Facebook did not want to do).

Now, you may get slightly more than seven days. Even though Facebook is no longer offering a choice, the countdown clock to Timline-ification doesn’t start until the “activate” button appears atop your profile page.

Once it does, you have just one week to prepare. Facebook (and Mashable) can give you lots of advice about how to hide those embarrassing posts from your virtual biography.

That's not what this column is about. I’m more concerned with why Facebook suddenly decided a mad dash to rollout completion made more sense than ambling along with occasional conversions.

Is Facebook just super-confident about the global reception to its profile makeover? Millions must have already converted, either by forcing the change through publicly available development tweaks last fall or by clicking the button this winter.

I don’t think that’s why, though. I’ve met a lot of people who like—even love—timeline, but also almost an equal number who are confused or appalled by it. In my own home, my son likes it, but my wife and daughter hate it.

Some folks I’ve spoken to said that, given the chance, they would never switch. Others told me they simply abandoned Facebook and set up camp on Google+.

Facebook must know that putting a ticking clock in front of users is bound to make very few of them happy, yet here it is, stop watch in hand. Here’s my theory.

The rather confusing Timeline apps environment isn’t very effective without it. Facebook made a decent sized splash last week with the introduction of 60 new app partners.

Facebook apps and games are not new. Neither are apps in Timeline (Foursquare already got there). But conducting most of your day-to-day activities, like watching movies, sharing content, reading news, eating out, and more — that's a new wrinkle.

None of this has quite the same impact without Timeline. During last week’s event, Facebook made it clear that these apps and your activities around them would live on the Timeline. They’d be summarized in a special section of it.

For these Apps’ activities to show up in your timeline, you need only install and allow them once. Then they and the gestures they generate become a part of the fabric of your Timeline—a piece of your growing biography.

I can see it now: “Poor, Charles, I’ll miss him. Remember when he used to tell jokes? Remember when he would take us all out to dinner? Where was that? Oh, wait, here it is on his Timeline. And there’s the music he was listening to right before he …”

The real reason Facebook is pressing so hard on Timeline now is that it really needs to prove to app partners like Slacker, Payvment, TripAdvisor, TicketFly, Wall Street Journal, Airbnb, and others that this is a real platform. They have to prove the ecosystem has just as much relevance as, say, Android, Windows or Apple’s iOS.

Facebook execs, who may be noticing slowed growth in the U.S., realize the time to strike is now. Google is raising the stakes in the platform space, consolidating services and boxing out Facebook andTwitter.

If Facebook does not pull its users in closer and make sure they spend as much time as possible on Facebook, sharing everything they do, those users could share everything elsewhere.

And those of you who are not ready to make the switch to Facebook Timeline? Sorry. You are casualties of a social networking platform and ecosystem war, one that will likely continue for the rest of this decade.

All that’s now guaranteed about our social networking experiences is battle after battle, and change after change.

Do you agree, or do you think there are other reasons for the hurry up to Facebook Timeline? Let me know in the comments.

Bonus: How to Fill in Your Facebook Timeline

How to Fill In Your Facebook Timeline

1. The Timeline Menu Bar

As you scroll down your new Timeline, a floating menu bar will appear at the top of your screen. Use it to add new events.

2. Work and Education

Events are divided into categories. The first is "Work and Education," in which you add jobs, studies, volunteer work and military service you completed before joining Facebook.

3. Family and Relationships

Next is "Family and Relationships," where you can note engagement and marriage events. Facebook also suggests you add the birth of your child or a pet adoption here. Finally, you may feel inspired to write your reaction in the "Lost a Loved One" category.

4. Living

"Living" events include relocation, buying a home and even getting a new roommate. For anyone who likes showing off their shiny wheels, Facebook also included a new vehicle category.

5. Health and Wellness

Facebook may have overstepped the privacy concerns of some users with its "Health and Wellness" section. It provides the opportunity to tell friends about broken bones, surgery or overcoming an illness.

6. Milestones and Experiences

Finally, "Milestones and Experiences" is the catch-all category, a broad yet flexible ode to all of life's turning points. Currently you have the option to add a hobby, a new language, a license, an achievement or award, a trip and a "piercing or tattoo." Hmmm, we'll all be looking forward to the pics, that's for sure.

7. "Other Life Event"

Facebook also allows user to add an "Other Life Event" to each category for circumstances that don't fit into its pre-set milestones.

8. Adding an Event

When you add an event, a pop-up window appears for you to complete simple fields relevant to said event. You can add more info via the "Story" box, and attach a suitable photo, either from pics you've already uploaded to Facebook or from your computer.

9. Privacy Options

Note that events you add to your Timeline default to "public" view. If you want to keep your events private to your friends, you need to click the drop-down menu on the bottom of the window to set your preferred privacy level. As well as selecting just your friends, you can also include relevant groups or set up a custom option.

10. The Event in Your Timeline

Once you've added and saved your event, it will show up large in your Timeline display, taking up a two-column space. We presume that because you've taken the time to add it, Facebook deems the event important to you.

11. Minimizing Events in Your Timeline

If this isn't the case, you can shrink the event down to one-column size. To minimize, click the star at the top-right of the event box.

12. Hiding or Deleting Events

You can also edit, hide or delete events from the same menu.

13. Your Recent Activity

Be aware that when you add an event to your Timeline, Facebook notifies your friends via the "Recent Activity" module. If you were hoping to fill in your Timeline with little attention, you can remove the alert by hovering over it and hitting the "X."

15. Adding Events Directly in the Timeline

Alternatively you can add events directly in the Timeline. This is a convenient feature, as you may find that looking back through your Timeline's existing content jogs your memory. To add an event in the Timeline just hover over the central blue line. Click the plus symbol that appears to add whatever kind of event suits your fancy.

16. And You?

We suspect the average Facebook user may add a few milestone events to fill in the blanks of their online past. On the other hand, maybe you're not willing to take the time to detail your past so thoroughly.

What do you think? Will you fill in your Timeline? Will your mom fill in hers? Will you click through to see other's Timeline events as they add them? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.